Opening or separating machine



. J. B. HENRY OPENING OR SEPARATING MACHINE Filed Aug. 18, 1922 5 Shee ts-Sheet 1 wrrmzsszss INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Dec. 0, 1924. 1,520,864

J. B. HENRY OPENING 0R SBPARATING MACHINE Filed Aug. 18, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 wrrNzsszss mvsw'ron iw lu -l 3m ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 30, 1924.

UNHTED STATES J OHN B. HENRY, OF ASPINWALL, PENNSYLVANIA.

OPENING OR SEPARATING MACHINE.

Application filed. August 18, 1922.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. HENRY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Aspinwall, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Opening or Separating Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a device for opening or separating superposed sheets of metal which have adhered to each other after having been rolled hot in packs, or annealed in stacks or piles.

It is well known that in common mill practice for producing sheets of tin plates or terne plates, that the partially rolled sheets are repeatedly doubled or folded and then re-rolled so as to finally reduce the sheets to the desired thickness. This doubling and re-rolling process, is usually repeated several times so that when the sheets finally come from the hot mill, they are in the form of packs or stacks comprising from two to sixteen sheets of practically the same thickness superposed upon each other. These packs or stacks are then sheared or cut into specified sizes. Due

. to the rolling process the sheets are caused to adhere to each other, and after the shearing or cutting operation it is necessary to open or separate them. The most common method of opening or separating is to pull or tear manually one sheet at a time from the pack, and in instances where the sheets stubbornly adhere, it is often necessary to use a sharp-edged metal sword to assist in the operation. It is also common practice when the sheets are subjected to a subsequent annealing process, to superpose a number of the sheets to be treated upon each other, annealing the sheets in such packs or stacks. Due to the weight of the upper sheets upon the lower sheets of the pack, this too sometimes causes a number of the sheets to adhere to each other, necessitating an opening or separating operation similar to that described above.

It is the object of the invention to provide a device which will mechanically and effectively separate the individual sheets comprising the packs as they leave the rolling mill or the annealing furnace, thus ob- Serial No. 582,642.

viating the necessity for the 'manual separation described, lessening the number of sheets scrapped, and correspondingly reducing the cost of production of light gage metal sheets.

It is a special object of the invention to provide an opening or separating device which causes a separation of the individual sheets comprising the packs or stacks by mechanically flexing, bending or distorting the entire pack for the purpose of causing relative movement between the contacting surfaces of the adjacent sheets. i

It is also a special object of the invention to provide a device in which the pack may be alternately and rapidly flexed in different directions and along different lines, thereby effecting a more ready and complete separation of the sheets, and in which the means for flexing the pack are compactly and conveniently arranged.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan View of a pack or stack of superposed sheets of metal after the same has been sheared to a desired size; Fig. 2 a sectional view taken on the line IIII of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 an elevational view showing the pack vertically positioned and flexed in one direction; Fig. 4C a view similar to Fig. 3 in which the pack is flexed in the opposite direction to that illustrated in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 a view similar to Figs. 3 and 4 in which the pack is horizontally positioned and flexed in one direction; Fig. 6 a view similar to Fig. 5 in which the pack is flexed in the opposite direction to that illustrated in said figure; Fig. 7 anelevational view of a clevice illustrating one embodiment of the invention which is magnetically actuated; Fig. 8 a side elevational view of a modified form of the invention, also magnetically operated; Fig. 9 an end elevation of the de vice illustrated in Fig. 8; Fig. 10 an elevational view of another modified form of the invention which is actuated by mechanical gearing; Fig. 11 an elevational view looking at one end of the device illustrated in Fig. 10; and Fig. 12 a similar View of the device looking towards the opposite end thereof.

The pack or stack of metal sheets after being sheared subsequent to rolling, or as it leaves the annealing furnace, is indicated by the reference numeral 1. This pack comprises a number of superposed sheets 2, the number of sheets usually varying from two to sixteen. As above noted, these usually adhere to each other as a result of the rolling process or the pressure due to the weight of the sheets themselves during the annealing process.

It is obvious that if the entire pack, such as is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, be bodily flexed, bent or distorted in a manner such as shown in Figs. 3 to 6, the contacting surfaces between adjacent sheets will be caused to move relatively to each other, consequently separating the individual sheets. Several forms of apparatus for flexing the pack in such manner, and along diiferent lines and in different directions, will be subsequently described.

The embodiment illustrated in Fig. 7, com prises a base plate 3 provided with the upright standards 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and the abutments 10, 11. The abutments 10 and 11 are spaced apart, as clearly shown in the drawing, the inner faces of which form surfaces various portions of which lie in different planes. Although these faces may be of various forms, for instance corrugated or fluted, provided various portions thereof lie in different planes from remaining portions, the same are preferably curved and formed as arcs of circles. As clearly indicated in Fig. 7, the axis of curvature of the curved face of the abutment 11 extends in a horizontal direction while the axis of curvature of the abutment 10 extends vertically, and substantially at right angles to the former.

The upper ends of the standards 4, 6, 7 and 9 are equipped with suitable apertured bearings for guiding the operating mechanism for flexing the pack. Mounted for sliding reciprocating movement in the ournals of standard 7 are plungers 12 and 13 which slidingly fit apertures 14, 15, respectively, located in the abutment 11.. The inner extremities of the plungers 12, 13 have cap pieces 12', 13 suitably attached thereto, which cap pieces are made of some material which will not mutilate the pack by contact therewith during operation, being usually made of a soft metal for such purposes. The outer extremities of plungers 12, 13 are bolted, as at 16, 17, to a cross head 18 from which the shaft 19 extends in a horizontal direction, the extreme outer end of the shaft 19 being slidingly supported in the hearing at the upper extremity of the standard 9. Formed upon the shaft 19 midway of its length is the core or armature 20 of an electro-magnet, the coil of which is indicated at 21, said coil resting upon and being supported by the standard 8.

Extending through suitable apertures 22 in the abutment 10 are plungers 23, similar to plungers 12. 13, the outer extremities of which are bolted, as at 24, to cross head 25 from which the horizontal shaft 26 extends, having its extreme outer end journalled for sliding movement in the upper extremity of standard 4. The intermediate portion of shaft 26 has fixed thereto the core or armature 27 of an electro-magnet the coil 28 of which is supported by the standard 5. The conductors 30, 30 of the coil 21 lead to contacts 31, 31, and the conductors 32, 32 of the coil 28 lead to contacts 33, 33. The source of current for the magnets is supplied through the line conduits 34, 35 which are adapted to be connected selectively through the contacts 31, 31 or contacts 33, 33 with either of the magnets as desired by means of a switch device indicated at 36. For simplicity, the switch 36 has been illustrated as a manual switch, but it is obvious that a switch of any character, either automatic or manual, may be employed.

In operation, the pack 1 is placed between the abutments 10 and 11 so as to be contacted at the opposite sides thereof by the inner extremities of the reciprocating plungers. Upon energization of the coil 21 by moving the switch 36 into engagement with the contacts 31, 31, the plungers 12-, 13 are caused to flex the pack 1 into intimate contact with the curved face of the abutment 10, thereby causing a relative movement between the individual sheets thereof, as above set forth. The switch element 36 is then moved so as to break contact at 31, 31 and complete the circuit to the coil 28 through 33, 33. Energization of coil 28 causes reciprocation of the plungers 23 forcing the pack 1 in the opposite direction and flexing the same into intimate contact with the curved surface of the abutment 11. This operation may be repeated a suflicient number of times to assure a complete separation between the several sheets comprising the pack 1.

The device illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9 resembles the one described above, in that it is electro-magnetically actuated. In it the pack is disposed horizontally instead of vertically, and the magnets are arranged in vertical alignment. In this modification, 40 and 41 represent bottom and top platens which are suitably connected by vertical spreaders 42, 43, bolted to the respective platens. A lower abutment 44 is fixed to the platen 40 and a corresponding upper abutment 45, arranged in vertical alignment therewith, is fixed to the platen 41. The abutment 44 is provided with an upper curved face 44 and the abutment 45 is likewise provided with a bottom curved face 45. the axis of curvature of the two faces being disposed angularly with respect to each other and preferably at right angles. The abutments 44, 45 are adapted to be magnetically energized by means of the electro-magnets 46, 47, respectively. The conductors for the magnet 46 are indicated at &8, 18 which lead to contacts 49, 4:9, while the conductors 50, 50 for the magnet 47 lead to contacts 51, 51. The line conduits 52, 53 are adapted to be selectively connected to the magnets 46, 47 by means of switch 54, in a manner similar to that described in connection with the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 7.

The operation of this modified form is obvious. The magnets A6, 47 are alternately energized and de-energized by means of the switch 54;, causing the pack 1 to be first attracted and flexed into intimate contact with the lower abutment and then into intimate contact with the curved face of the upper abutment, resulting in flexing the entire pack along lines substantially at right angles to each other, effectively separating the several sheets comprising the pack.

The embodiment illustrated in Figs. 10 to 12 consists of a base provided at its upper portion with the upstanding abutments 61, 62 corresponding to the abutment-s 10, 11, respectively, in the form shown in Fig. 7. These abutments are perforated as in that embodiment for slidingly receiving the reciprocating plungers 63, 63 and 64, 64, the former being bolted to across head 65, the latter being similarly attached to the cross head 66. The lower extremities of the cross heads 65 and 66 are securely attached as at 67 and 68 to the opposite ends of a rack bar 69, the entire structure formed by these connected parts fitting in a suitable opening 70 formed in the upper portion of the base 60 and being adapted to be reciprocated therein. In order to reciprocate the rack 69, and consequently the plungers 63, 63, 64, 64:, a spur gear 71, suitably journalled in the base 60, meshes therewith, the gear 71 being driven by means of a pinion 7 2 mounted upon a shaft 73, also journalled in the base 60, said pinion being rota-ted alternately in opposite directions from any suitable source of power, such as a reversible motor or suitable gearing interposed between a shaft constantly driven in one direction and the shaft 73. Since the specific mechanism employed for securing the alternate rotation of shaft 73 in opposite directions forms no part of the present invention, the same has not been illustrated or described in greater detail.

In operation, the shaft 73 is rotated alternately in opposite directions causing reciprocation of the rack 69 with consequent reciprocation of the plungers 63 to 64:. Reciprocation of these plungers alternately flexes the pack 1 into contact with the curved faces of the abutments 61, 62, resulting in a separation of the individual sheets of the pack as in the previously described forms.

Although the reciprocating plungers employed in connection with the embodiments illustrated in Figs. 7, 10, 11 and 12 preferably pass through guiding apertures formed in the body of the abutments, it is obvious that the plungers may be otherwise guided and made to contact the opposite sides of the pack by straddling the abutments-or in other equivalent ways.

It is thus seen that the invention provides a simple, compact, durable and economical device for the purpose intended, and one which will effectively cause the separation of the individual sheets comprising the pack treated by bodily flexing the same alternately in opposite directions and along lines preferably arranged angularly to each other.

Although the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described in accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, it is obvious that many changes in details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is therefore not intended to limit the same beyond that specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim: a

1. A machine for flexing packs of superposed metal sheets to separate the sheets thereof comprising a support, spaced abutments fixed to said support, each abutment having a curved face, the axis of curvature of one face being at an angle to the axis of the curvature of the other face, and means for alternately flexing the said pack into intimate contact with said faces whereby the curvature of the pack while in flexed condition substantially conforms to that of the said faces.

2. A machine for flexing packs of superposed metal sheets to separate the sheets thereof comprising a support, spaced abutments fixed to said support, each abutment having a curved face, the axes of curvature of said faces being substantially at right angles to each other, and electro-magnetic means for alternately moving the pack into contact with the said abutments.

3. A machine for flexing packs of superposed metal sheets toseparate the sheets thereof comprising a support, perforated limiting abutments fixed to said support and spaced from each other, the facing surfaces of said abutments being curved, reciprocating plungers slidingly fitting the perforations in the abutments adapted to contact the opposite sides of the pack, and means for reciprocating the plungers and flexing the pack alternately into intimate contact with the said curved surfaces.

4. A machine for flexing packs of super posed metal sheets to separate the sheets thereof comprising a support, perforated limiting abutments fixed to said support and spaced from each other, the facing surfaces of said abutments being curved and the axes of curvature of said surfaces being disill) posed angularly with respect to each other, reciprocating plungers slidingly fitting the perforations in the abutments the'inner extremities of which are adapted to contact the opposite sides of the pack, the outer extremities of said plungers being operatively connected to the armatures of electro-magnets, and means for alternately energizing the coils of said magnets whereby to alternately flex the pack in different directions. 10

In testimony whereof, I sign my name. JOHN B. HENRY. Vitness:

J0. BAILY BROWN. 

